2. The Stakes:
TAS, SAL
2. The Stakes By Sal Tas Paris Algeria has long been the traditional stomping-grounds of the French Foreign Legion. The Legion fought its major battles in the North African territory, and...
...If the nationalists fail to solve these problems, Algeria will probably be faced with economic and political ruin...
...The reaction of the populace points up how effective the Fifth Republic and especially President de Gaulle's paternalism have been in depoliticizing the majority of the French people...
...The Legion fought its major battles in the North African territory, and its officers and soldiers naturally associated themselves with the colons...
...This was particularly true in the recent crisis when, after a few hours of uncertainty, de Gaulle decided to take exclusive control of the situation...
...second, working out mutually advantageous relations between France and an independent Algeria...
...What would have happened if the generals had succeeded in overthrowing de Gaulle...
...Certainly, most of the country was against the generals' rebellion, but the feeling was that these matters should best be left in the hands of the Government...
...In short, a victory for the generals would have been a major catastrophe for France and the West...
...For them, there was no future in Europe...
...keeping Algeria French meant not only helping the colons, but insuring their own survival...
...In France most of the population took the news of the attempted coup with astonishing calm...
...A military dictatorship would immediately have made France's position in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) impossible, and changed the character of the European alliance...
...The generals obviously would have fought the Algerian nationalists with greater vigor...
...A successful coup would also have radically affected the whole French financial structure, forcing the economy to serve the Algerian war and the Army...
...And sooner or later they would have been forced to strike at Tunisia, the home base of the National Liberation Front (FLN...
...Moreover, the majority of the soldiers in the Legion's First Regiment were Germans, former members of General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps...
...Should the negotiations result in an armistice and some form of Algerian independence, as now seems likely, the FLN will still face two tremendous problems: first, insuring the peaceful cohabitation of the French and Moslem populations...
...Not even the initial panicky reaction of the Government stopped most Frenchmen from blithely carrying on their usual spring week-end activities...
...This should help create a more amicable atmosphere at the forthcoming negotiations between Paris and the rebels...
...Throughout the tense days of the revolt, the FLN wisely kept silent—although it let it be known that a victory for de Gaulle was as important to the nationalists as to France...
...Though many volunteers for a civilian defense corps came forward, the Government soon let it be known that no civilian would be provided with arms (this was a wise decision, since civilians with carbines would have been no match for heavily armed parachutists, and it was known that the Communists were trying to infiltrate the volunteer movement in order to obtain arms for their private corps...
Vol. 44 • May 1961 • No. 19
